Los Cuates — Restaurant in Albuquerque

Rarely do I take my 3 youngest children, ages 5,7 and 9 out to eat. I worked late and was too tired to make dinner so I surprised them when I picked them up from school and took them to Los Cuates. It was shortly after 5pm on Thursday, December 19th. It was semi busy but not packed. After being seated a server did great us within a timely manner and take our drink order. After 18 minutes with no drinks or chips or salsa I got up to look for our server. I found her and said, "can we get our drinks please, we've been waiting 18 minutes." Her response was, "can't you see I'm busy." I explained I understand you're busy but it is unacceptable to be waiting that long for drinks. We waited another 5 minutes before she brought our drinks which I was hoping she'd bring chips and salsa as well. She didn't. I got up to go find her again and a young man was bringing out our food. I asked him for chips and salas and he wasn't friendly either and responded sarcastically when I set your food down my hands are full. I acknowledge that said when you set the food down can you bring 2 extra plates please. He responded again when I set your food down. He set the food down and left. Never brought back the chips or salsa or plates that I asked for when I first ordered along with a side of onions. Our server finally brought chips and salas when we were already eating our food. There was another young female server other than our server who I tried to ask for chips and salsa when she was getting some for another table. She ignored me and acted like she didn't see me when she walked in the kitchen. That same server gave my 9 year old daughter a dirty look when we were leaving. She told me once we got in the car. SHE'S 9 YEARS old!!! My daughter who works at another Los Cuates was very upset. I had to call her and ask do they not give chips and salsa anymore. She said that's the first thing they should bring to the table. She also told me to not leave a tip which I still did. I told her our server charged us $3.50 a drink which were kids drinks and she told me she charged you for an adult drink. Although my kids were hungry and thirsty they were well behaved and waited patiently for their food. It was a horrible HORRIBLE experience with the service and treatment. I had to also get up to ask for the onions which I ordered in the beginning. When they were brought they were full of water. When I've gone during the day for lunch we've had amazing service with the young gentleman Marcos. This is the first time we've gone for dinner and probably the last time with the experience we had! When we were leaving I saw the two young female servers standing by the drink area and I was curious to see if they would say anything to us as far as have a good night etc. Which of course they said nothing. I regret not saying, "enjoy the rest of your evening." As I was exiting Los Cuates I looked at the hostess who finally said have a good evening. As soon as we got outside, and older woman who was sitting next to us came up to me to tell me that I am a good mom and she had to let me know that. I meant to call the next day to talk with a manager but it is peak season at work and I got too...

My mother chose to have her birthday here, as she enjoyed it as a resident of NM for many years. Granted, half of our party showed up 45 min. late, which can throw service flow a bit, but most servers handle this efficiently and gracefully. However, that wasn't the case last night. The issues presented during last night's experience were: 25 min for initial drink (tea) 40-45ish min. til arrival of food (no steaks, hamburgers, or anything that wasn't already prepped. Also, all tables were served b4 we ordered, so unless a humongous To-Go came unexpectedly, there was no excuse. I believe the server got sidetracked by "closing duties" n forgot to input the order) 2 plates were affected due to either incorrect ordering by server or kitchen not paying attention. Either way, I understand completely but became irritated since one plate was my mother's. 35-45 min to get 2nd round of drinks from the bar. Well, my parents asked for more drinks as they ordered meals and received them after the food, so it was a bit longer. sopapillas were offered halfway through dinner, which was great, yet we got 4 old ones 20 min later and 2 super hot n awesome sopas about 10 min after that. once the ticket n boxes finally arrived, ANOTHER extended period of waiting to pay. Nobody was by the register up front so had to wait for the server, Kim. PS: Kim may have been being trained by another server, but I'm not positive. She was kinda unfamiliar with the menu, having to read our choices in order to see what she needed to ask us, like chile or meat, etc. Not confident, but sweet as can be, apologizing often. Either way, in my humble opinion, I believe she would benefit financially from a little more training before taking tables with more than two to four orders so she can feel confident and practice table time management and make more money by having happier customers. I realize this review is long, but I felt it is just as important to point out possible reasons issues arise and share ideas to improve negative experiences for all parties involved. I don't know it all, but willing to share what I can. We WILL be returning to dine here again because this was our first negative experience with Los Cuates and everybody deserves a...

My Son came home on a emergency leave an on his extra day he took me (Mom) an his Dad to my favorite restaurant. Here. Amanda our waitress was just hem-haw on service. No smiles just a glare & on off she went. We get our 3 dinners an she says the sopapillas will be here shortly. Shortly meant almost 15min., an my Husband was practically done! They should be brought it out together, now mind you we said ok an waited. Thinking it be less then 7 minutes. Amanda returned an I asked for the Manager & Alias showed up an asked what's wrong. I said the bread came too late. We're almost done eating an we didn't get to enjoy our meal. He says some people like their sopapillas at the end of the meal - I quickly commented that we don't! An he says," No some people." Ain't true for the 85% of us New Mexican's. We did get a Military Discount but it was so disappointing because of truly Love this restaurant. All my kids know, so they always take me here for my Birthday's & Mother's Day. Always good service with sopapillas with the meal together. So the "Manager" asks if we're ok with more sopapillas. (3) We did accept. So, in the meantime Amanda our waitress ignored us until my Son who's serving our Country had to flag her down continuously with her bad behavior. I have always been fair especially when my own 2 daughters use to a one point -- use to be a waitresses too. Later when I got home I called this establishment an the lady that answered said the bald guy wasn't the Manager. Wait what? 🤔🧐 Then who helped us? She said the bald guy is the server. So obviously they don't know their fellow job titles. We spent over $100 an I wish we went somewhere else. My Son enjoyed his food but it could of been a better experience an now he's going back to South Korea. I hope I return, maybe on...